IDA’s Property strategy sets out ambitious plans for the delivery of advanced building solutions in regional locations and key capital-intensive regional infrastructure to support the organisation’s strategy. The timely provision of appropriate, innovative and cost-effective property and infrastructure solutions that meet the needs of MNC’s at the forefront of the modern economy remain essential to winning FDI. In a challenging, competitive and uncertain global environment, IDA’s regional property programme ensures the supply of land, buildings and infrastructure in regional locations as required by current and prospective clients of IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs. A robust property and infrastructure ecosystem can be the key differentiator in winning FDI projects, as evidenced by the record regional results achieved under IDA’s Winning 2015-2019 strategy and its current Strategy - Driving Recovery and Sustainable Growth 2021 - 2024.
Under its current strategy IDA is progressing delivery of 19 Advanced Building Solutions (ABS’s) to regional locations. IDA also partners with the private sector and Local Authorities to deliver buildings in key locations where appropriate. In addition, IDA is investing in significant infrastructure projects across the portfolio of Business and Technology Parks to upgrade and is maintaining these key assets in line with the evolving requirements of IDA and EI clients. IDA has maintained a focus on land banks and utility intensive strategic sites to future proof the ability of our property portfolio to support the project pipeline, most notably large-scale capital-intensive projects which can have significant regional and national economic impacts.
Capital investment on land acquisition, buildings, and infrastructure in 2021 and 2022 is detailed in the table below:
|
Spend Type
|
2021 €m
|
2022 €m
|
Transaction/Works Locations
|
|
Land Acquisitions
|
€9.31
|
€24.63
|
Midlands/West/ MidEast/ Southwest
|
|
Building Programme
|
€27.68
|
€40.67
|
Northeast/ Border/Northwest
/Southeast
|
|
Infrastructure
|
€22.80
|
€26.80
|
Mid-West/ Southwest/Northeast /South East
|
|
|
59.79
|
92.10
|
|
The significance of property to the winning of FDI particularly in regional locations is clearly demonstrated by investment wins from Gilead in Carrigtwohill, Almac, Wasdell, Wuxi Biologics and Irish Life in Dundalk, Regeneron, Eli Lilly & J&J in Limerick, State Street and Abbott in Kilkenny, Zoetis in Tullamore, and Enterprise Ireland Clients such as Kilkenny Cheese. Other successes to date in line with IDA’s Building programme include the investment or expected investment of companies such as Meissner in Castlebar, Vistakon in Limerick, Medtronic in Galway, Horizon Therapeutics, Eirgen, and Artesyn Biologics in Waterford.
In this context, continued investment in delivering advanced property solutions and infrastructure upgrades, in addition to further land acquisitions is critical to delivering on IDA’s and EI’s balanced regional development agenda.
